The Website of Miah and Michelle Collins

Two weekends ago, I participated in a weekend that J-life uses every year to get the students to think about the reality that many Africans live in everyday. The weekend started by surprising the J-lifers as they thought we were about to go running, and they came out to where we meet to run. Then, Tara proceeded to tell them that they weren’t running, and that they were going to go through a reality weekend. They weren’t permitted to change, grab any pillows, shoes (if they weren’t wearing any), or anything else. They had to stay just as they were. Then they had to turn their cell phones off and leave them in their dorms. Next, we (I decided to go through this with them) each got given a number and after we chose a number, we were told what that number meant. Each number grouped you into a category of people that are very common in South Africa. We had, the rich, the middle class, the farmers, the street kids, HIV infected, the illegal immigrants, and the illiterate unwed mothers. I was an illiterate unwed mother along with 4 other girls. I made a baby out dirt and a plastic bag, and I had to carry it with me the whole weekend. Now, the J-lifers are told that this thing can go on for however long, maybe a week, maybe longer, depending on their attitudes. This is not true, but I think it was essential to get them into the mindset of surviving in the situation. We were given a paper telling us a little bit about our roles. As illitterate unwed mothers, we couldn’t have a Bible, we each got $1 to survive on for each day (the illegal immigrants and the street kids got nothing).
We could treat the street kids and illegals however we wanted. After this, we were given as a group a couple packets of soup mix, and corn flour to make our dinner over the campfire. We had to go and get water from the “bush camp” which was about 2kilometers away, and we had access to one toilet for about 20 girls. No showers. No toothbrushes. We all had to sleep together in the loft where we shared a small foam mattress for every 3 girls. The next morning, we were woken up at 6am and told we had to go to the store in Balfour. Each of us spent 20 cents (in Rand) for the taxi to get to the store. The catch was that in order to get to the “taxi pickup”, we had to walk to the tar road which is about 10 kilometres away. So we walked with our 8 lb babies for about 2.5 hours. The HIV infected group had one person who was supposed to be really sick, and they had to make a stretcher for her out of sticks and rope and carry her the whole way.

Now, this would never have been accepted with American Youth. Walking this far, making them do without showers, and not letting them know when it will end would almost be a law suit waiting to happen. But I am so grateful that I got to go through this here, and that God let me experience this with girls who are so amazing and resourceful.

So, once we got to the market, we pooled our money together and bought the food for the next two days: 3 loaves of bread, peanut butter, jam, 4 cans of baked beans, and 2 packets of soup mix. This was for 5 girls for 6 meals. Although some people might think that this amount is very little for those many meals, we were actually pretty well off. We have peanut butter and jam sandwiches for 2 meals and then soup and beans for dinner. As you can imagine, all of the groups gave a little bit of money to the street kids and illegals to buy some food for the next couple days. One guy, who was from the town we were in, begged off of people he knew for the illegals and got them some hotdogs for free. That was an incredible act of generosity, because this wasn’t even his group that he was begging for.

Most of the rest of the day we spent discussing the statistics of African children and diseases and other set backs that make it almost impossible for Africans to get ahead in life. So, after two and a half days of this, what did I learn? I learned that tiredness and laziness are a common disease among the poor, and it becomes a continuous cycle.  I learned that it’s really not that bad to live without the incredible luxuries of potato chips, chocolates, and soda, in order for some amazing people who are fleeing for their lives and trying to find work to have a tiny bit to eat for the day. Seriously, it’s not that hard. Did I mention how easy and simple that is?

The last meeting was what really hit me. Many people were sharing their testimonies from the weekend and telling people what they had learned. The biggest thing that affected me was that there were 4 guys who told everyone that what we lived through that weekend was what they lived through every day of their lives as children. Wow. Imagine going through something like this, hearing all these pampered rich people complain that they’re hungry or want to shower so bad, and at the same time reliving some of the reality that you went through when you were little! I still have so much to learn about dependency on the Lord and on humility of Jesus. Jesus probably lived on less than $1 a day. And He is the God of the entire Universe in flesh! K, I don’t need to drive this lesson in any more, I know that this is something that you really have to experience because stories, the millions of stories that we here, never give us that same passion or understanding.

I am continuing to respect and learn from these J-lifers and gain wisdom and insight into the South African culture and the struggles and needs of people in this country, both spiritually and physically. I am grateful for this experience and I ask you to pray with me and for me that God will use this experience in my life and never let me forget it. 

Two weekends ago, I participated in a weekend that J-life uses every year to get the students to think about the reality that many Africans live in everyday. The weekend started by surprising the J-lifers as they thought we were about to go running, and they came out to where we meet to run. Then, Tara proceeded to tell them that they weren’t running, and that they were going to go through a reality weekend. They weren’t permitted to change, grab any pillows, shoes (if they weren’t wearing any), or anything else. They had to stay just as they were. Then they had to turn their cell phones off and leave them in their dorms. Next, we (I decided to go through this with them) each got given a number and after we chose a number, we were told what that number meant. Each number grouped you into a category of people that are very common in South Africa. We had, the rich, the middle class, the farmers, the street kids, HIV infected, the illegal immigrants, and the illiterate unwed mothers. I was an illiterate unwed mother along with 4 other girls. I made a baby out dirt and a plastic bag, and I had to carry it with me the whole weekend. Now, the J-lifers are told that this thing can go on for however long, maybe a week, maybe longer, depending on their attitudes. This is not true, but I think it was essential to get them into the mindset of surviving in the situation. We were given a paper telling us a little bit about our roles. As illitterate unwed mothers, we couldn’t have a Bible, we each got $1 to survive on for each day (the illegal immigrants and the street kids got nothing).
We could treat the street kids and illegals however we wanted. After this, we were given as a group a couple packets of soup mix, and corn flour to make our dinner over the campfire. We had to go and get water from the “bush camp” which was about 2kilometers away, and we had access to one toilet for about 20 girls. No showers. No toothbrushes. We all had to sleep together in the loft where we shared a small foam mattress for every 3 girls. The next morning, we were woken up at 6am and told we had to go to the store in Balfour. Each of us spent 20 cents (in Rand) for the taxi to get to the store. The catch was that in order to get to the “taxi pickup”, we had to walk to the tar road which is about 10 kilometres away. So we walked with our 8 lb babies for about 2.5 hours. The HIV infected group had one person who was supposed to be really sick, and they had to make a stretcher for her out of sticks and rope and carry her the whole way.

Now, this would never have been accepted with American Youth. Walking this far, making them do without showers, and not letting them know when it will end would almost be a law suit waiting to happen. But I am so grateful that I got to go through this here, and that God let me experience this with girls who are so amazing and resourceful.

So, once we got to the market, we pooled our money together and bought the food for the next two days: 3 loaves of bread, peanut butter, jam, 4 cans of baked beans, and 2 packets of soup mix. This was for 5 girls for 6 meals. Although some people might think that this amount is very little for those many meals, we were actually pretty well off. We have peanut butter and jam sandwiches for 2 meals and then soup and beans for dinner. As you can imagine, all of the groups gave a little bit of money to the street kids and illegals to buy some food for the next couple days. One guy, who was from the town we were in, begged off of people he knew for the illegals and got them some hotdogs for free. That was an incredible act of generosity, because this wasn’t even his group that he was begging for.

Most of the rest of the day we spent discussing the statistics of African children and diseases and other set backs that make it almost impossible for Africans to get ahead in life. So, after two and a half days of this, what did I learn? I learned that tiredness and laziness are a common disease among the poor, and it becomes a continuous cycle.  I learned that it’s really not that bad to live without the incredible luxuries of potato chips, chocolates, and soda, in order for some amazing people who are fleeing for their lives and trying to find work to have a tiny bit to eat for the day. Seriously, it’s not that hard. Did I mention how easy and simple that is?

The last meeting was what really hit me. Many people were sharing their testimonies from the weekend and telling people what they had learned. The biggest thing that affected me was that there were 4 guys who told everyone that what we lived through that weekend was what they lived through every day of their lives as children. Wow. Imagine going through something like this, hearing all these pampered rich people complain that they’re hungry or want to shower so bad, and at the same time reliving some of the reality that you went through when you were little! I still have so much to learn about dependency on the Lord and on humility of Jesus. Jesus probably lived on less than $1 a day. And He is the God of the entire Universe in flesh! K, I don’t need to drive this lesson in any more, I know that this is something that you really have to experience because stories, the millions of stories that we here, never give us that same passion or understanding.

I am continuing to respect and learn from these J-lifers and gain wisdom and insight into the South African culture and the struggles and needs of people in this country, both spiritually and physically. I am grateful for this experience and I ask you to pray with me and for me that God will use this experience in my life and never let me forget it. 

Well, despite the fact that Michelle has done such a great job at describing all of our adventures so far I thought it would be good for me to take advantage of the reliable internet here in Durban to add a few things from my side.

Our friend Jason Price has started working at the “Norwegian Settlers Church” which is in Port Shepstone, about an hour and a half south of Durban. Despite having a sweet name for a church, they are impacting their community and those around them in such an beautiful way I think its worth me sharing a few things that we saw there. I knew they had an Aids Hospice that is internationally renowned as a model for caring for people with HIV/Aids. What I didn’t know is that the Hospice with 60 beds is on the church property! These middle class people don’t consider their church space too holy to allow sick and dying people to find rest and love there. Although people do die on the premesis, many others, through care and proper treatment, get better enough to return home and continue with their lives. We spoke to the director of the center who told us a story of a young lady who died in her arms early on while she was working there. When someone from the state hospital came later on they could see that she was very heart broken from this death. The hospital worker said to her “You’ll get used to it” and she told us “Two and a half years have passed and I haven’t gotten used to it.”

This church of about 600 people is also home to community centre (which is where Jason works, running a gym, coaching basketball and distributing donated stuff to the needy in the community), a rugby academy (which is associated with the professional team here), and a strong internship program which introduces young guys to all of these things. I was so humbled thinking about the standard that this church was setting for the people in their own congregation and any follower of Christ who comes into contact with them.

A couple weekends ago I got the chance to speak at a camp for a Student Christian Association in Johannesburg. It was great to be able to interact with high school students in this country and just to find out what kind of things they are dealing with. There were about 25 guys and girls at the camp and as I got talking to them I found that about half of them didn’t claim to be Christian at all. I found their honesty to be really refreshing. I think at youth camps in the States it would be taboo to openly say “I’m not a Christian” or “I’m just checking this out.” I left there with a renewed passion to encourage and equip the young people that we are working with at J-Life so that they will be able to speak life into the youth of Africa.

We’ve also been able to relax here in Durban and spend some good time with my folks and old friends. We went to a Sharks rugby game, a local concert and, of course, spent some time on the beautiful Natal beaches. I wish you were here to see it…

I am challenged all the time by the disparity between the rich and the poor. Just yesterday, we were driving home from Port Shepstone and on the side of the highway, I see hundreds of tin shacks ligned up right next to eachother, kids running almost naked, you know, what Americans would view as the typical African scene. But then, about literally 100 feet away (I was seeing Chatswick), over a little hill, or accross the highway, or down the valley are these huge houses almost identical to the houses I grew up in in Houston Texas. There is a vivid image of the have’s and the have not’s here in South Africa that makes me somewhat understand why theft, robbery, and assaults happen every single day in each of these communities. Yes, there is potential for this place to be an oasis of beauty, relaxation, a hotspot of tourism for the entire world. And then accross the hill, there is potential for this place to be forgotten, cast aside, ignored, despised, and perverted by satan, as much of Africa is today. When two worlds collide as harshly as they do here in South Africa, inevitably problems arise that must be dealt with, and last week we met many people who deal with these problems everday.

This past week has been a great experience for me. We are visiting Miah’s family in Durban and catching up with everyone here on the coast. The first few days of this week, we got to go to a conference for Miah’s parents’ new church. The conference was on “extension ministries”, and the main ministry that was highlighted was a ministry called the container ministry. What the Container Ministry does is deliver several tons of food in huge containers to missionaries in rural and poverty stricken areas.

Occasionally, God gives us opportunities to interact with people who are literally changing our world as we know it. This past week we got to meet hundreds of these heroes and heroins. We met people who are on the frontlines of the kingdom of God in South Africa, ministering to the unwanted, to the sick, to the infected, to the spiritually needy. These people are feeding Jesus everday, they are clothing Jesus everyday, and ultimately they are loving Jesus radically everyday. We get these small glimpses of these people at conferences like this, but the reality of their lives that are completely spent for the Lord, is that day in and day out, they NEVER stop giving.

Another hero we got to hang out with was our friend Jason Price. Now, I’ve always known Jason to be a guy who has a deep need to make a difference in this world, but when you get to see him actually doing it, you get to experience the thrill of the victory of Jesus’ life and resurrection on this side of heaven. That thrill is something that I think every single follower of Christ desperately needs. But getting back to the point, Jason is changing the world right now in a ministry to communities on the South Coast of South Africa that are over 40% stricken with HIV/AIDS. He runs a gym for these guys, and he stops and has a bible study, and prays with them before they head out for the day. He also visits an HIV/ AIDS hospice that the church runs and hangs out with them, loves them, and helps them to die with the dignity, forgiveness, and love that Jesus pours into them through Jason.

God has been challenging me constantly that I am the church. Jesus left (sent the Holy Spirit and left) with the challenge and the commission for us to show Him to the world. And I am in a stage where the most dominant characteristic of Jesus in my mind and my heart right now is His radical love. I keep seeing this image of Jesus in my mind, bleeding, sleepless, persecuted, poor, saying “ The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” When we can go around the corner, over the hill, or wherever it is He leads and radically love people, why isn’t His church doing it?